


No One Left Behind

by Treon



Category: White Collar
Genre: Drabble Sequence, Gen, Grief/Mourning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-10
Updated: 2016-01-10
Packaged: 2018-05-13 00:02:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5686735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Treon/pseuds/Treon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post series finale. Neal's friends grieve after his death</p>
            </blockquote>





	No One Left Behind

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 'End of the World', 'Sleepless' and 'Floating' challenges on fan_flashworks

When he was a kid, Peter sometimes wondered what the end of the world would be like.  An alien invasion of green beings, or a nuclear bomb sent over by the Soviets.  There would be panic in the streets, people yelling and screaming, begging for it to stop.  There would be a big explosion and then everything would disappear into nothingness.  
  
That's how he'd always imagined it.  
  
But as it turned out, the end of the world didn't come in a firestorm.  It came in the silence of a hospital morgue, watching Neal's still body lying on a metal gurney.  
  
***  
  
El lay in bed, her eyes open in the darkness.  Peter lay besides her, hugging her.  His breathing was uneven, and she could not tell whether he was sleeping or not.  
  
She could feel the stirring of a new life inside of her.  A baby boy.  She could hardly believe the miracle.  
  
If anything were to happen to Peter, she could see it now, the obituary would declare he was a diligent agent and a caring husband and father, survived by his loving wife and adoring son.  Who had Neal left behind?  No one.  Just a couple of uncaring parents.  
  
***  
  
Diana was at her desk reading witness statements.  Or rather, rereading them, for the fourth time in a row.  She couldn't concentrate.  
  
"Hey." Clinton stopped at her desk.  
  
He waited for her to look up, then nodded towards Peter's office.  
  
Diana turned around to have a look.  Their boss was standing with his back to the bullpen, staring out the window.  
  
She looked back at Clinton.  "He'll get over it."  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
She thought of Charlie.  He was her bodyguard and her friend, and he died saving her life.  "He will.  We all will.  We have no choice."


End file.
